Gender Roles In Gender Socialization

Toys play an important role in gender socialization. Huge corporations, like Toy’s R US and Wal-Mart, have manipulated children into gender roles by exposing them to toys that act as social indicators of gender expectations. Gender socialization and Gender roles, are the processes by which individuals are taught how to socially behave in accordance with their assigned biological sex. The required behavior, individuals are expected to commit to, are set on societal norms dictating the types of behaviors that are desirable solely based on sex. Gender has been constructed by society in numerous ways. Children’s toys have helped construct the inequality concept of gender roles by their masculine and feminine packaging. In the world of toy marketing, …show more content…
A role conflict, tension caused by competing demands between males and females roles pertaining to their different statuses, is exposed by my findings. The toys were divided into two subcategories. The first category was labeled with a big blue sign that read “Boys,” and the second category was labeled with a big pink sign that read “Girls.” Under the blue sign were aisles filled with toys that promoted construction, car mechanics, sports, and violence, whereas the toys under the pink sign promoted cooking, fashion, princesses, and nurturing. There were two toys in each set of aisles that stood out to me. In the boy section, a huge work bench titled “The Home Depot Pro Play Workshop and Utility Bench” contained hammers, wrenches, saws, and screwdrivers, followed by pictures of young boys building doors and frames. The other toy was titled “True Hero Cargo Plane.” It was an army play set filled with explosions and destruction on the box. The toy itself included army men and weapons. The girl section was substantially different. For example, the biggest toy marketed for girls was a play pretend kitchen titled “Little Tikes Bake n’ Grow Kitchen.” The kitchen was decorated with cupcakes and hearts, and it had pictures of girls that seemed to enjoy the play set. Baby toys were also marketed on the girl section; one was titled “Baby Alive Doll Deluxe Play-yard.” This contained a toy baby with its own crib decorated with flowers and hearts. Young girls are associated with being mothers because they are expected to be lovely mothers when they grow up; girls are associated to be caring so that can nurture children. These toys tell young boys to be strong and dominate, and girls should be caring and nurturing. Marketing puts girls to shame and shows their place in the